How Secure Are Digital Signatures
Digital signatures, like handwritten signatures, identify a signer and are used to authenticate documents. Digital signatures operate via a mathematical system that offers a high level of security.
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Asymmetric Cryptography
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Digital signatures use asymmetric cryptography. Cryptography refers to the encryption, or conversion of information from a readable format to an indecipherable format. This information can be decrypted, or decoded, via a key. Asymmetric key algorithms, or mathematical formulas, generate two mathematically-related keys. One key, called the private key, is issued to the user or signer, and often takes the form of a password or passphrase. The other key, called the public key, is widely distributed and requires the private key to decode the password.
Authentication
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Digital signatures provide a secure means of authenticating the individual or source of the transmitted message. The secret key in the asymmetric cryptographic system verifies via the signature that the message could have been sent only by the user. This level of security allows digital signatures in the United States, European Union and India to be legally binding.
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Cryptographic Binding
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Ink signatures, when manually or digitally copied, may be duplicated from one document to another, resulting in lack of security and possible fraud. Digital signatures connect, or bind, the user's identity cryptographically to the document without the possibility of signature replication.
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References
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- Photo Credit a copy key: symbolic computer security and theft of digital data image by Stephen Gibson from Fotolia.com
